Do you mean shocking? And honestly, no, but there is no way it doesn't hurt the horse :/ and they hid it from the audience and were eventually sued.

Also, I would like to say ahead of time that I am in no way trying to impose this onto others, I am legitimately curious as to what everyone thinks of this, since there seem to be lots of different opinions. I have never been to a rodeo and honestly WOULD NOT KNOW, but this seems pretty over the top.

Honest answer.
I am not trying to get in your sh!t, I just want to encourage research.
You could do a search on this forum alone and come up with at least a dozen threads on this subject.

PRCA rules state that hot shotting is illegal. But one should know that hot shotting is not done to make the horse buck harder or "act wild". It is for the horses that "stall out" in the chute. Horses that stall out pose a large threat to themselves and the rider.
Also I have been shocked by a hot shot and they are not going to kill anyone or anything I can tell you that! Not even close to the same voltage used for a taser gun. Depending on the model used, I compare it to touching a hot wire or a good zap touching metal after dragging my feet across the carpet.

Honest answer.
I am not trying to get in your sh!t, I just want to encourage research.
You could do a search on this forum alone and come up with at least a dozen threads on this subject.

PRCA rules state that hot shotting is illegal. But one should know that hot shotting is not done to make the horse buck harder or "act wild". It is for the horses that "stall out" in the chute. Horses that stall out pose a large threat to themselves and the rider.
Also I have been shocked by a hot shot and they are not going to kill anyone or anything I can tell you that! Not even close to the same voltage used for a taser gun. Depending on the model used, I compare it to touching a hot wire or a good zap touching metal after dragging my feet across the carpet.

What does it mean to "stall out"?
Also I am wondering about the roping, as they seem to give those horses no mercy o_o

I like PETA, I’m one of them. People Eating Tasty Animals. Love a good steak, and by the time I came back from Jordan (Muslim country, they tend not to like pigs) I could have killed for a pork chop. But seriously, there is a problem with organisations like PETA (I mean the real one, not my version). Generally they go around taking some self righteous moral high ground about animals yet have absolutely no idea about what they are talking about. For example, take branding calves. The average PETA type would tell you it is cruel and inhumane and they would go on and on about how much pain and trauma the calf goes through. And it is all BULLS$%&. Whenever I am confronted by one of these types who tells me that cattle feel pain just like people, I ask them to do two experiments. 1)Find a fellow PETA type, square off about 3 to 5 meters apart, and run as fast as they can at each other and head but each other as hard as they can. 2)If they are a mother and are weaning a baby, when the baby tries to have a drink that the mother doesn’t want to give it, to discourage drinking, put on steel capped boots and kick the baby in the face.After doing these experiments, see how they feel, see if they can even get up after the head but, or if the baby is even alive after the kick in the face, then tell me that cattle and humans feel and experience pain, or anything else, the same. I have seen more cattle than I can remember head butting each other (and been on the receiving end of it) and I have seen more cows than I can remember, and mares, kicking their calves and foals when weaning them, and kicking them hard. The problem is that these types of people have no tangible experience with an animal past their pet cat or dog, which they have anthropomorphised to begin with, then sympathise with livestock, which they equally anthropomorphise. They take some moral high ground because they “care” or “feel” for animals and see anything that they feel would hurt themselves, being done to animals as cruelty.I’m not saying that cruel behaviour is justified, not by a long way. I can tell you if any station owner or manager that I have ever worked for saw a calf being roped and ripped off its feet like that whoever did it would probably be out of a job. And I stopped riding saddle bronc after about 3 or 4 rides because I consistently saw broken legged horses or ones that had been knocked around badly, but then they might have just been bad rodeo contractors. I have seen quite a few others with bucking stock treated like royalty too. And as for giving a horse a shock with a cattle prod, it’s nothing, I’ve felt it plenty of times, most of these animal lib types overreact about everything with no experiential basis on which to base their opinions.

I like PETA, Iím one of them. People Eating Tasty Animals. Love a good steak, and by the time I came back from Jordan (Muslim country, they tend not to like pigs) I could have killed for a pork chop. But seriously, there is a problem with organisations like PETA (I mean the real one, not my version). Generally they go around taking some self righteous moral high ground about animals yet have absolutely no idea about what they are talking about. For example, take branding calves. The average PETA type would tell you it is cruel and inhumane and they would go on and on about how much pain and trauma the calf goes through. And it is all BULLS$%&. Whenever I am confronted by one of these types who tells me that cattle feel pain just like people, I ask them to do two experiments. 1)Find a fellow PETA type, square off about 3 to 5 meters apart, and run as fast as they can at each other and head but each other as hard as they can. 2)If they are a mother and are weaning a baby, when the baby tries to have a drink that the mother doesnít want to give it, to discourage drinking, put on steel capped boots and kick the baby in the face.After doing these experiments, see how they feel, see if they can even get up after the head but, or if the baby is even alive after the kick in the face, then tell me that cattle and humans feel and experience pain, or anything else, the same. I have seen more cattle than I can remember head butting each other (and been on the receiving end of it) and I have seen more cows than I can remember, and mares, kicking their calves and foals when weaning them, and kicking them hard. The problem is that these types of people have no tangible experience with an animal past their pet cat or dog, which they have anthropomorphised to begin with, then sympathise with livestock, which they equally anthropomorphise. They take some moral high ground because they ďcareĒ or ďfeelĒ for animals and see anything that they feel would hurt themselves, being done to animals as cruelty.Iím not saying that cruel behaviour is justified, not by a long way. I can tell you if any station owner or manager that I have ever worked for saw a calf being roped and ripped off its feet like that whoever did it would probably be out of a job. And I stopped riding saddle bronc after about 3 or 4 rides because I consistently saw broken legged horses or ones that had been knocked around badly, but then they might have just been bad rodeo contractors. I have seen quite a few others with bucking stock treated like royalty too. And as for giving a horse a shock with a cattle prod, itís nothing, Iíve felt it plenty of times, most of these animal lib types overreact about everything with no experiential basis on which to base their opinions.

Yes, I agree. I actually did not know SHARK was one of those extremist groups. I am pretty sure there were other people complaining about cheyenne rodeo though, so I will look into that and see if I can find something more reliable then get back to you :)

What does it mean to "stall out"?
Also I am wondering about the roping, as they seem to give those horses no mercy o_o

Like usandpets said, they don't come out as soon as the gate comes open.
It could be for several reasons like deciding on putting him in a left hand delivery when usually he is a right hand horse or leaving them in the chute for too long and what I mean by that is whoever is riding him takes too long too get ready and the anticipation gets to them especially if they lean...etc..

I am pretty sure they don't rope horses at Cheyenne, you will have elaborate on that one.

Yes, I agree. I actually did not know SHARK was one of those extremist groups. I am pretty sure there were other people complaining about cheyenne rodeo though, so I will look into that and see if I can find something more reliable then get back to you :)

There isn't anything more reliable.. They are all swayed, biased opinions against rodeo. I guarantee you, every single one of those websites will say "put and end to rodeo and it's cruelty". Of all sock, rough stock has the most natural life. They buck a whole eight seconds.. Boy that's abusive!! Yeah, right. And name one other horse related sport where a horse hasn't broken a leg. When you work with livestock, compete with livestock, even just own livestock, you will have the same amount of injuries... The Cheyenne is a good rodeo, just under attack by people who have a goldfish and think everyone who works with animals is an abuser..

I work with cows on a daily basis, and I own a couple of prods (hot shockers) I would stand in line ANY day for a shock vs being stung by a hornet and the ones they use the electric shock is coming from a 9volt battery so a bit less than most electric fences

I don't agree with shocking a horse at a rodeo, the county fair had a rodeo where a horse was shocked and had a bunch of people upset, I actually wrote to the rodeo company and said "hey, I use them I know how useful they can be BUT you are in the public eye and one of your employees used one at the rodeo at our fair the other night" and they at least said they were going to look into which individual it was and act accordingly

As with everything, a hot shock can be humanely used or inhumanely used I'm not in the rodeo business so I'm not sure what their use was for (but someone else did mention that earlier) but I do know those animals work for 8seconds (or less) and then get catered to like you and I wish we were catered to. Those horses and cattle can make a stock contractor thousands of dollars probably even tens of thousands for the good ones so it is in their best interest to take care of them.

Yes there is banging and clanging and the horses are amped up. But the chute has to be able to hold back a 2,000 pound bull that is ready, and they are amped just like any athlete before their big game. If you watch a lot of rodeos the horse/bull will buck 3 times rider is gone and then they will just walk to the exit gate saying "see that wasn't so hard, i'm ready for dinner"

After reading the article that someone posted a link to, I will say that a lot of people let the ball drop. The judge should have removed the contractor from the area when it's estimated use is 1/3 of his horses and he should not be allowed back at PRCA sanctioned events

Not based off of SHARK/PETA's alegations, but based off of the PRCA Judge's comment and the contractor's own comments

That would have shown good will by the PRCA and sent the message to others that are doing it because they can

I agree with Tim as far as there is a right way and a wrong way to use a hot-shot.
No good comes from constantly using it, it sours your animals.
I have worked with cattle that have been thrashed hard and soured in a set of pens and head catch. Most the time if give them the opportunity to do it right and position them and yourself correctly they make the right decision, the sourness comes from bad stockmanship. But there are occasions when a hot shot is needed. The problem is that PETA/ SHARK do not understand the use and why. And, yes, there are people that use them incorrectly, just like with any tool we use with animals- it is up to the user to make the best or the worse of it.

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